Giving Thanks
by Melody Elliot
Summary: A friendship analysis told through Jane's thoughts during the final scenes of the summer season finale 2012.


_Giving Thanks_.

Story is complete as is. I could not get the final scenes of the summer season finale out of my head, or my dreams, until I wrote about it. I feel quite rusty in my writing, because it has been a few years since I have written for pleasure, so please read me kindly. All mistakes are my own.

For some reason, dialogue just did not work for me as I wrote this. It felt stiff and out of place, so I stopped trying to force it and just wrote what came. This is the result. I have never written a story without character dialogue, and I am still not convinced that I like it. It will definitely not become my preferred style. But such is life and such is this story.

Disclaimer: I will not profit in any way from this story, outside of the personal gratification gained from writing down my ideas. The characters belong to Tess Gerritsen, and the story line was created by the employees who work on the TV show at TNT.

~Rizzoli & Isles~

From the moment Jane realized that Maura was with the serial killer, her heart had been racing in over drive, clenching painfully within her chest as each second ticked by. The nail-biting drive to Dennis Rockmond's apartment, sirens wailing shrilly, and Barry Frost's almost constant cursing as he took too many risks to make it through traffic barely registered in her fear addled mind. She glanced in the side mirror and saw Vince Korsak's profile in the back seat, every line on his face etched with the same worry that was surely on her own.

What would they find when they arrived? Maura screaming? Pleading? Lying dead on the floor next to a mixture of plaster? Jane closed her eyes against these agonizing thoughts and willed the cars ahead of her to part like the Red Sea to give her an avenue to her best friend.

Jane was out the door of Frost's car before he had completely stopped when they arrived at Rockmond's building. Korsak and Frost abandoned the car in the middle of the street, lights still flashing, and they sprinted after Jane into the empty foyer. The elevator bore an "Out of Order" sign. Without a moment's hesitation, Jane slammed her way through the door for the stairwell and began climbing the stairs two at a time. When the trio reached the landing for the third floor, they drew their firearms. Frost took the honors of opening the door with his shoulder, and suddenly they were in the apartment.

When Jane's eyes found Maura's, she knew a profound relief that her best friend was, for the moment, still alive. She watched the confusion in Maura's eyes turn to knowledge, and then fear, as Rockmond held the blade to her throat and twisted her through his work space and toward the open elevator shaft. Time seemed to slow down for Jane as the pair hovered over that empty space and Rockmond's intent became clear. The pain in Jane's heart nearly obscured all other thoughts, save for the burning will to save Maura.

She heard herself talking to Rockmond without consciously planning what to say, her detective training instinctively guiding her words while her mind analyzed the situation for a solution. Rockmond held Maura in such a way that even a shot to the head, could Jane pull it off with her best friend so close, would likely result in both of them toppling into the elevator shaft. Maura's weight was pulled backwards by the force of the knife-wielding arm across her torso, and there was no way Jane could reach her in time if they fell.

As Rockmond raged about his mother and his misdeeds, Jane's gaze again found Maura's. Her elegant features were contorted with panic, her eyes desperately pleading with Jane to help her. In a moment of sudden clarity, Jane understood that she had no options; Dennis Rockmond was in control of whether Maura lived or died. She felt a soul-rending terror welling up inside of her that nearly buckled her knees.

Suddenly, time seemed to catch back up with itself as Maura's broken sobs finally penetrated her haze of fear. Holstering her weapon, Jane pleaded and reasoned with Rockmond, validating his raging assertions and attempting to keep him away from the edge of the shaft. He danced back and forth under the unwavering aim of Detectives Frost and Korsak, his eyes focused solely on Jane as he talked about his mother.

Jane knew the moment when Rockmond decided he was done talking, saw something subtle shift in his eyes as he briefly tightened his grip on Maura. Jane launched herself toward them with no plan in mind, no thought of the two guns or the knife in the room, driven only by her desperate desire to get to Maura. She wondered, briefly, if this is how Maura felt a year ago when she saw Jane shoot through her own body in order to stop a dirty cop from taking any more innocent lives. It was like an all-consuming fire that seemed to burn through her mind until the only thought that remained was her best friend.

In the split second it took for Jane to reach this understanding, Rockmond granted Maura life by hurling her into Jane's arms as he fell backward into the elevator shaft. Jane caught Maura against her midriff and held her tightly against her body, feeling her solid, shaking warmth soothe her ragged nerves. She tilted her head skyward and let her eyes close, relief washing through her like a balm as she thanked a higher power for sparing one so dear.

She registered Maura clutching her arms as she held her, the press of her cheek against her upper arm as she sobbed into her blazer. After a moment, Maura moved away from her to look down the elevator shaft, before turning blindly away. Jane looked with her, registering Rockmond's unmoving body as a tangible reassurance that Maura was no longer vulnerable to his crazed intentions.

Jane knew that Maura's coolly analytical mind must be at the breaking point after her ordeal, and sure enough, she was soon pleading with Jane through her sobs to make her understand how Rockmond had fooled her. Jane offered what comfort she could with her words, repeating Maura's own logical explanations for how serial killers move undetected through society. Jane gripped Maura's hands tightly, offering a lifeline to stability as Maura's emotions overcame her.

Jane's splintered brain reconnected at the sight of her friend's grief. Nothing mattered more to her in this moment than Maura. Neither the body of their serial killer at the bottom of the elevator nor the quiet sounds of her partners calling for the required crime scene personnel on their cell phones could call her attention away from her friend's pain. Jane's focus zeroed in on Maura, and she gathered her into her arms, cradling her trembling form against her body.

Powerful relief swept over Jane as she held Maura securely. Jane had never known another person like Maura, never been this close to another woman before the medical examiner came into her life. Again, she mentally sent thanks to whatever higher being had caused Rockmond to spare the life of the remarkable woman in her arms, and Jane gathered Maura just a little bit tighter to her as the latter's tears continued to fall.

Official personnel from multiple departments flooded the residence, taking pictures, gathering evidence, and conducting interviews. Jane stayed with Maura as much as she could until they were finally permitted to go home and rest. Silent tears continued to run down Maura's face in the car on the drive back to her house, though she said nothing. Jane held her hand for the duration of the drive, and the normally taciturn medical examiner seemed to welcome the tangible comfort.

As soon as they walked in the door, Jane sent Maura into her bedroom to change into comfortable clothes while she made some tea from the cupboard. When Maura returned to the living room, she had scrubbed the tears and make-up off of her face, making the vulnerability in the expression much easier to read. Jane felt her heart break a little at the sight and set the tea down on Maura's coffee table. Jane took Maura's hand again as they sank down into the plush couch behind them. She turned her body so that she was leaning against the arm of the sofa at her back and brought her legs up so that she was essentially straddling the medical examiner. With the softest of nudges, Maura crawled gratefully into her arms with a quiet sigh of relief.

They lay like that for some time. As the tension in her body slowly relaxed, Maura seemed to let her weight rest completely on Jane's form, her ear pressed against the detective's steady heartbeat. One of Jane's hands softly stroked the honey-colored hair beneath her chin while the other rubbed soothing circles on Maura's back. When Maura's tears returned, Jane rocked her gently and murmured words of comfort while her friend quietly cried.

It was about half an hour later when Angela Rizzoli let herself into the main house upon returning from the hospital and found both women seemingly asleep on the couch. Jane cracked an eye at the noise, and realizing that Maura would probably rather not know that Jane's mother had seen her so vulnerable, Jane silently indicated for her mother to go back outside for a moment. When the door had quietly closed again, Jane gently shook Maura awake, telling her that she had heard her mother's car pull in the drive.

Maura shook her hair back from her face and wiped her eyes with her hands, clearing away the last traces of her tears. She gave Jane a tentative smile and reached out to briefly squeeze her hand as they heard Angela's key turn the lock on the door. Jane watched Maura greet Angela with her typical warmth and felt a flood of well-being. Maura was alive and safe. Though the emotional wounds wrought by tonight's events would take a bit longer to heal, Jane knew that her best friend was going to be alright. She sent one last quiet thanks to the heavens, then turned toward her mother to hear the details on newest member of the Rizzoli family.


End file.
